Discovery

"Who is Diane?"

Her voice echoed through the hallway as I closed the door behind me. I froze momentarily as the face appeared in my mind. The anger washed over me but fear quickly smothered it as I wondered about the origin of the question.

"Did you hear me?" The irritation was hard to miss.

"Yeah, what? Why, what's going on?" Yes, a mistake as you never answer a question with a question as it clearly demonstrates stalling.

"That's what I thought."

The echo vanished as she appeared behind me as I placed my coat in the hall closet. I laid my gloves on the shelf as my eyes caught her leather gloves in the usual spot. The gloves had been a gift from me during our second Christmas together. I smiled remembering the time she had dropped them in the middle of a busy highway - I had retrieved and rescued them with saddle soap as she dismissed the work.

"What is so funny?" She appeared to my right. She examined my face in disbelief that I found anything funny about the situation.

"I was remembering the gloves and the rescue." We had always called it the rescue.

"Yeah, great, did you fix something for her too?" She stood firm with arms crossed awaiting an answer.

"Who?" Yes, it was idiotic to play stupid, but I still didn't know what to say.

"Whom."

"Whatever." I hated being correct and she knew it.

I turned away from her and started toward the kitchen as a sharp pain erupted in my shoulder blade. It was immediately followed by a loud thud on the hardwood floor. I spun around to meet her ice cold stare. My eyes floated to the floor as I noticed a book at my feet. I mumbled the title as the fact that she had thrown it registered in my mind.

"What the hell? I told you to be careful with my books!" I squatted and retrieved the hardbound treasure. The pages where not damaged as I closed and examined the spine. Panic filled the pit of my stomach as I recognized the title - The Talented Mr. Ripley. It is one of my favorite novels with this particular volume being a gift from Diane. I stayed down on my haunches, wanting to remain in that position forever and never have to raise and meet her angry face and questions.

"Did SHE give it to you?"

"Who are you talking about?" I couldn't fathom how she knew about the giver. I felt sweat on my forehead as I slowly opened the front cover to reveal a handwritten note on the blank page. I was both mad at Diane for vandalizing such a fine book and mad at myself for forgetting the note.

My mind wandered back to the night she sit across from me in the dim pizza joint by the river. She smiled, that wonderful smile, and pushed the gift across the table. I tore the bright red wrapping paper like a kid at Christmas. She moved to my side of the table and read the note to me as I examined it. Her hand in my lap extinguished the anger at her handwriting ruining the novel. It was the last time I had opened it as I already owned a copy, but I couldn't figure out why the wife had discovered it.

"It seems like she knew you very well. I particularly like that last line where she comments on your own talents."

"Well, we did work together." I was going to put up more of a fight, but the note in the book was more revealing and taudry than I would ever be.

"Yeah, you always did work too much."

"Look, I am sorry."

"Yes, you are and you will be." She turned and disappeared in the bedroom with the door slamming. I felt dizzy as I watched her disappear.